Sometimes you need to get away. Doesn’t matter where. Just go.
I don’t understand how some people spend an entire semester in Athens. I get a little stir-crazy. I am, by nature, an alarmingly lethargic creature, but even I need a change of scenery sometimes.
So, last Friday, I set aside my spoon and the jar of peanut butter I’d been living off of for the past week, packed my things and set off to visit some lovely friends in Cincinnati.If you’ve ever driven down state Route 50, you know that it’s certainly a treat.
You get to experience such pleasantries as the Ten Commandments posted on the side of the road, a town called “Ratcliffburg,” and a slightly disconcerting thought that you will be 100 percent screwed if your car breaks down in such a desolate area.
Honestly though, there is something oddly therapeutic about driving alone on a country road and blasting Die Antwoord and not worrying about how weird anyone else thinks they are or if it’s too loud. Enjoy the scenery. My boy Gerald said it best on Hey Arnold: “The journey is the destination, man.”
Do you remember what civilization looks like? Because I didn’t until I reached Cincinnati. Sure, Athens is a nice little idyllic college town nestled in the hills of Appalachia, but sometimes I’d like to be able to go to a mall — and I use that word leniently— that has a wider selection than Bath & Body Works and Elder-Beerman.
I’d forgotten what frozen yogurt tasted like (wonderful). I’d forgotten how nice it was to step into a Barnes & Noble and read the astrology books while getting condescending looks from 70-year-old couples. I’d forgotten how it felt to be able to choose from more than three chain restaurants.
I’d forgotten that there were so many things to blow money on.
The best part, though, was the easy routine my friends and I fell back into after being together for all of five minutes. It was as if we hadn’t actually been apart for two months, and that feeling alone was enough to make the whole trip worth it. (I know, I know, I can see you dabbing your eyes with a Kleenex.)
Here’s a tip: put your phone away when you’re gone. Stop thinking about who or whatever’s been bothering you. They are irrelevant to your current situation.
Enjoy the time you have away from them. Being bombarded by texts about things that you don’t want to deal with when you’re three hours away kind of defeats the whole purpose of leaving in the first place, don’t you think?
Getting away from everything has always been my go-to during stressful and upsetting times. Maybe it’s not the most cost-efficient way to deal with things, but it’s a nice way to temporarily flip the bird to your problems and ease your mind for a few days.
Visit friends, go home (your parents miss you), strike out on a crazy adventure to someplace new; just get out of Athens every once in a while.
Cortni Dietz is a sophomore studying journalism at Ohio University and a columnist for The Post. How do you get away from your problems? Email Cortni at cd509910@ohiou.edu.
